LOTS OF HELP NEEDED

[STEIN]

HEY YALL,
Hope everyones Fathersday is great. I am hoping to make a trip to chickamauga to do some catfishing. It will be my youngest son(13) and myself. The dates I have available are July 26th to August 8th.
I know absolutly nothing about the Chick so I will probably have a million questions. First, I am assuming that fishing will be much easier during the week. Is this correct? Second I guess is area. I would like to be somewhere that we could catch several average size fish to keep my boy busy, but yet we still might have the opp to catch a LARGE one. When is the best time to fish, all night, all day, 4am, 8am, 2pm, etc? Since I dont have access to the skipjack so often mentioned, I thought I would probably use Chicken breast that others have mentioned(hey, even I can find a BiLo). I dont normally use a weight but I am guessing that the depths yall speak of will require some. Will splitshots work or do I need to do something different? Ive got Zebco 733's on BassPro catfish sticks with 20lb line, is this sufficient?
I guess that is enough questions for now, but I am certain I will have many more. I just really want to make this a fishing trip my Son will remember forever. Thanks Guys.emoWorthy

 

[Guest]

Your rod and reel should be sufficient provided the 20 # line is good. I use 2 oz egg sinkers on light sensitive rods and 3 oz on the heavier equipment or if they are pulling water pretty good. Weekdays are by far the best although you can get in some good fishing before the fun crowd wakes up. If you are out for fun bring some chicken livers too. You will catch a lot of small fish but the 8 to 15 pounders will hit it too. It's a little messy but that's part of catfishing.
Ya'll have fun and let us know how you did. Pics are good too.

Cheez

 

[foodsaver]

let me know when you are coming through I may be able to hook you up with some skipjacks.

 

[foodsaver]

as far as area goes I would focus on the area between harrison bay and sequoyah with an emphasis mostly on sequoyah. I would definately go during the week if possible it seems that the traffic is the least by around Tuesday or Wednesday. I would also use skipjack if at all possible if you would like to catch bigger fish every last good sized fish I have caught has been on skipjack, to be fair I only use Chicken Breast if someone else is with me and they want to catch bunches of fish. What I like to do when I am not fishing specific humps is anchor on the edge of the channel and throw some baits in deeper water and some in shallow water. Some of the other guys on here can give you some advice about drifting but thats what I do and it works for me. I went the other night and we caught a few fish but with a child in the boat I would definately do the daytime if you can stand the heat. I hope this helps!